FY18/19 Budget Reduction Process Allocations and Descriptions - Round 2

Unencumbered funds resulting from position vacancies would be eliminated, instead of being used for future hires of faculty and staff. These funds could otherwise have been used to address salary inequities, to retain faculty at risk of being recruited away by other institutions or to otherwise invest in Nebraska’s faculty.

The Department of Statistics has been jointly operated by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources since its creation in 2003. The Arts and Sciences budget, which supports several faculty members, a full-time staff member and a number of graduate teaching associates, would be transferred to IANR, which would be required to cut the equivalent of four faculty positions elsewhere to fully fund the Statistics Department.

The increased strategic use of summer school funds allows for a budget reduction without significant impact to the quality summer school programming currently offered to students.

Rapid developments in the field have left the electronics engineering degree program outdated. Three faculty positions would be eliminated instead of reinvested into the College of Engineering. The electrical engineering degree program would serve in place of the electronics engineering program. Both are offered by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The Buros Center for Testing operates as an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to improve the science and practice of testing and assessment. It provides fee-based services for appraisals and consultation, generating sufficient revenues to support its director’s salary and benefits.

Formed in 1993 to apply basic research in cognitive psychology, linguistics and cognitive science to the design and evaluation of educational practices in the nation’s schools, the center currently includes one faculty position. The affiliated Accommodation Resource Center, which supplies technology-based support for individuals with disabilities, will continue without change.

The institute, established in 2013, addresses the economic, demographic and technological issues facing rural communities. Cost savings will be realized by reducing the institute’s staffing and operating budget and by leveraging Rural Futures Institute programs with those of Nebraska Extension’s Community Vitality Initiative. Five faculty positions will eliminated as a result of the budget reduction.